DESCRIPTION OF WORK

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We may not be able to go home again, but my paintings show that our memories can,” says Joseph Di Carlo, referring to some of his canvases depicting 1950’s Brooklyn. Although Di Carlo sometimes consults photographs of Brooklyn streetscapes when painting people on tenement stoops, rows of neighborhood shops or long-lost landmarks such as Ebbets Field, his best resource is his memory. “My work is about recreating authentic scenes of New York, specifically Brooklyn, as it was once,” he says. “Not the commercial centers, but the ethnic neighborhoods and the juxtapositions there—a German deli next to an Irish pub next to an Italian bakery.” Di Carlo’s nostalgia for old neighborhoods does not influence his works’ realistic integrity, however. “My scenes are accurate,” he continues. “Everything pictured—from the streetlights and fire hydrants to the mailboxes and automobiles—is actual. I paint no hidden meanings.” When asked if he returns to those neighborhoods for further inspiration, Di Carlo says, with a touch of wistfulness, “I prefer to remember things as they once were. After all, some of these neighborhoods don’t exist anymore.”

METHOD OF WORK

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The Di Carlo home is awash in the sounds of Jerry Vale, Connie Francis, Dean Martin, Vikki Carr and other singers of a past era. Following breakfast and a thorough read of The Washington Post, Di Carlo walks downstairs to his basement studio, turns on the music—and the memories. He begins every painting by roughly sketching the scene on canvas with pencil, “to establish perspective and to make sure the elements work,” he says. Next, he might envision himself walking down a Brooklyn street more than 50 years ago, hand-in-hand with his Italian-immigrant father, Guiseppe, taking in the sights. “The more intricate the detail I can render, the better. I paint all day—that is, until late afternoon, when ‘Judge Judy’ comes on!”

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

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As a teenager, Di Carlo was encouraged by Sister Ursula of St. Martin of Tours elementary school to dabble in drawing. Another inspiration was his father, who loved to walk through the city with the young Di Carlo. “He’s even in some of the paintings,” the artist says. “The people and sights I saw on those walks were inspiration enough. I am still filled with those impressions.”

BIGGEST BREAK

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Di Carlo admits he has never thought of himself as an artist. For years, he was a successful advertising executive in Manhattan and, later, in Washington, D.C. “Call me a ‘Sunday painter,’” he says, ignoring the other six days he paints. Although he started painting in his 20s, it didn’t become a daily activity until he retired eight years ago. As an artist not looking for a “break,” Di Carlo has instead continued to paint a subject matter that appeals to an enormous art-buying public. “So many people like realistic scenes of cities and feeling that they are right there in them,” he says.

ONE EXPERT’S OPINION

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Frank Wright, an accomplished realist painter and longtime professor at the Corcoran Gallery and George Washington University in Washington, D.C., first saw Di Carlo’s work while judging an art competition in 2001. Wright agrees with another observer’s description of Di Carlo as a “male, 21st-century Grandma Moses.” He recalls being touched by the power and validity of Di Carlo’s paintings. “The paintings of New York were wonderful in their richness and authenticity,” Wright says. “The thing about Joe’s work is that the paintings improve the more you look at them. Some of them are a joyous experience to study.”